UK CitySlicker Sam: Hello and an Introduction to Oxford

Let’s start at the beginning, for that is a very good place to start. Samuel Fletcher here, and it really is lovely to meet you. I’m a moderately tall first year Chemist studying at Trinity College, here in Oxford. I love living an analogue life with my Diana Mini and various other vintage cameras I’ve found on eBay – is there any better way to spend your student loan? “No, of course not!” I hear you cry. (All the square photos below are from my Diana Mini , others are from a Coronet Rapide.)

I also like tea and cake. In fact I love cake so much I worked in a cake shop over the summer, and when I’m not studying for a chemistry degree (which is quite often), or learning to fly with the RAF, I’m normally found in the kitchen with a mixing bowl and a recipe book. In fact, the chap gurning away in the photo below is actually me, complete with a basket of cinnamon rolls (recipe available to anyone on request).

I don’t think you can be a student here without consuming vast amounts of caffeine of some sort or living off cake and biscuits. Late nights in the library are made much sweeter by a doughnut or cookie. Work hard but play harder, and play harder we do – when you can’t stomach any more organic chemistry reaction mechanisms or quantum mechanics the day and nightlife is second to none. I’m sure in the coming months I can show you many things… Life in college is great and there are only 80 of us in our year so everyone knows everyone. With a bit of luck there are a few snaps of college below…

And then there’s the food in college. Trinity has the best food in Oxford. While other colleges claim this prestige for themselves, only Trinity is entirely honest. When His Majesty the Emperor of Japan visited Oxford in 2007, the University sent him to Trinity for lunch. Exactly. The only thing is I had planned to put a photo of a typical dinner in here, but my plans were scuppered by the waiters who confiscated my camera for the duration of the meal. I refuse to accept this though, so I’m forming plans to sneak my camera in for you.

I’m completely new to this city so I’m exploring all the time, with Diana of course. There are so many things around Oxford I can’t wait to introduce you to, but as this is meant to be only be an introduction I’ll just pick a few examples to be going on with…

Try the Covered Market for the best pie shop in town, cafés, cake shops and bourgeois delights. The Alpha Bar also stocks enough edible hippie crap to induce a lentil breakdown. And if you want a cookie every time you do something right, Ben’s your man. His diabolically delicious creations are the perfect remedy for post-traumatic tutorial disorder.

This is the Radcliffe Camera, which doesn’t have any books relevant to my course in it but it does make me feel good swiping my card to go in with all the tourists watching through the railings.

I’ve never seen so many bikes in my life either. They’re everywhere, literally everywhere. If you don’t have a bike here, you’re a nobody. Oh and there’s G&D’s which does THEBEST ice creams, I’m almost salivating at the thought… A few other POIs which I will show you a picture of now and with a bit of luck I’ll explain in later articles!

There are many places around and about that were used as locations in the Harry Potter films – being a bit of a Potter geek I had to find a few examples to show you. These cloisters in New College pop up in a few of the films, like when Malfoy gets turned into a ferret by Professor Moody. This bit of the Bodleian Libary (the university’s library) is where they have dancing lessons ready for the Yule Ball…

It being bonfire night last weekend what seemed like most of the university traipsed down to South Park for an evening of firework filled fun, and the compulsory ride on The Waltzers – a minute of the finest spinny, whizzy, dizzying fairground action. Analysis of the photos shows some enjoyed it more than others.

This has been a far from complete tour of Oxford, There’s so much more that I can’t wait to show you but I’m running out of words so I’ll have to sign off here and save it for next time – it was lovely to meet you and I hope to see you soooooon. Much love!

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